Review: Saint Bernadette - Word to the Lourdes

Label: Exotic Records

Released: April 14, 2009

The band name and album title here present a question. Is this band serious or tongue-in-cheek? After all, they've named themselves after the saint whose visions of the Blessed Mother continue to provide awe and inspiration to the faithful 150 years later. While their name could clearly be taken seriously, the title's less-than-reverent allusion to the place of Saint Bernadette's visions could also be read, as the band itself suggests, as a reference to pop icon Madonna's child. This duality goes beyond the surface though and permeates the music.

The tunes draw on punk, 70s glam and straightforward rock n roll backing a strong vocal performance from singer Meredith DiMenna. She plays it sultry and sexy, but strong and really cultivates an atmosphere that is both dark and hopeful, serious and fun. The music is not merely a vehicle for her voice though as the songs still take precedence. They're catchy without being overtly hooky, allowing them to hold onto what they catch. Solid production capitalizes on the band's tightness without loosing the looser, glammy feel. More than anything though, it is the co-existence of sensual seediness and upbeat positivity that makes Word to the Lourdes not simply a fine rock record, but also a real reflection of life.

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 7/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 8/10
Overall: 7/10

Website

Myspace

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.

Review: Thieves and Liars - American Rock n Roll

Label: Dreamt

Released: September 1, 2009

Thieves & Liars debut, last year's When Dreams Become Reality, was a bold, expansive album. If it had a noticeable fault, it was that it didn't always turn its breadth into a cohesive whole. American Rock n Roll doesn't suffer that same ill though. It's a much more straight forward hard rock album. While nothing here is as ambitious as their debut, this album is much more even, relying more on raw passion and conviction than innovation. From the blistering rock n roll of "Walking by My Side" to the aggressive blues of "Killed a Man," Thieves & Liars successfully rein in innovation in favor of flat out rocking. While "Till the Walls Fall Down" and "Promised Land" are a little thin and lose the richness of 70s hard rock in favor of the synthetic riffs of the following decade, the album as a whole has far too much soul to be written off for a couple near misses. Overall, these songs of struggle and salvation, a hard rock gospel if you will, prove that rock n roll is anything but the devil's music.

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 6/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 9/10
Overall: 7/10

Myspace

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.

Review: Latin for Truth - We Are Sick of Not Having The Courage To Be Absolute Nobodies

Label: Pitfall Records

Released: Summer 2009

Some bands can get by on simply having big, open, honest hearts to fuel their music. They don't have to be particularly creative as their appeal lies more in soul than songwriting. Latin For Truth is like that...except, despite having more than enough in their hearts to make just about anything compelling, they don't rely on that alone. Instead, they fill (and I do mean fill) this three song EP with melodies that wrap their arms around you and proceed blast them out with a wild rhythmic ride beneath. We Are Sick of Not Having The Courage To Be Absolute Nobodies rolls laughter, tears, anger and every other human emotion into what is ultimately the joy of being alive.

You can download the EP for free here.

Ratings
Satriani: 6/10
Zappa: 7/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 10/10
Overall: 8/10

Myspace

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.

Review: Painted Willie - Mind Bowling (re-issue)

Label: DC-Jam Records

Released: July 17, 2009

SST Records was, if nothing else, a source of 80s musical madness. The label was somewhat diverse, but insanity was its consistency. While Hüsker Dü, the Meat Puppets and a few others moved on to major label semi-success, many of their bands burned up in the label's creative melee. Painted Willie was just such a band.

While Mind Bowling doesn't present essential listening for the general public, there are many out there who either missed it the first time or were too young when it went out of print or who sadly never owned a turntable (as it never made it to CD until now) that will appreciate it. The loose-to-the-point-of-near-deconsturction tunes meld mid-tempo, metally punk with the psych jams brought to the table by bands like Black Flag and the Meat Puppets. Along with other SST acts like DC3 and SWA, Painted Willie represent some of the earliest rumblings of what would later evolve into stoner rock. Mind Bowling will never have the broad impact of SST's upper echelon, but for those who want to dig a little deeper into underground rock's history, this re-issue is a fantastic opportunity to sample the madness.

Ratings
Satriani: 5/10
Zappa: 7/10
Dylan: 6/10
Aretha: 8/10
Overall: 7/10

Myspace

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.

Review: The Treat - Audio Verité/Deceptive Blends

Label: Rockular Recordings, Ltd.

Released: June 15, 2009

One of the best things about the Treat's last album, 2007's Phonography, was its ability to really move around through rock's past. It was the movement from influence to influence that gave the album a lot of its life and that's why their new approach is a little bit disappointing. The double CD Audio Verité/Deceptive Blends is organized more like a double LP with four sides, each with its own direction, and that makes the whole affair more of a sterile exercise than a celebration. While it's a significant hit to the album's overall energy, there are still some good fine songs here even if not displayed as well as in the past.

The first "side," Side Rock, takes a straightforward approach, dealing mostly in 70s hard rock (with the exception of the rather pop-oriented "On the Waterfront"). I could have done without the opener's bow to AC/DC, but things kick into gear with the bombastic "Showtime." Whether tapping blues rock or glam or something in between, the Treat show clearly that they can rock in a way that brings the past alive.

Side Acoustic is broader than the name suggests, dabbling in acoustic psychedelia as much as folk or blues. Syd Barrett and Led Zeppelin make their mark on the side's best cuts, which far outshine the weak, meandering "Sweet Jasmine."

On Side Electric, they take another stab at hard rock with the heavier "Massive Attack" and the edgier, bluesier "Anger Management." With the exception of the psyche trippiness of "Silent Voices," this is ground largely covered by Side Rock, only amped up a bit.

Side Experiment is a bit of a misnomer as experiemntation isn't really what the Treat is about. These "experiments" are more about reliving the experimental music of the late 60s rather than reliving its experimental spirit. Still, there are some fine detours into psyche, funk and early prog even if nothing really goes out on a limb.

The Treat essentially attack their music in detail on Audio Verité/Deceptive Blends and that does a better job of illustrating their skill than it does of making a great album. Even if they prove their point on all four counts, which is questionable at times, my head understands it better than my heart...and that is the album's principle flaw.

Ratings
Satriani: 8/10
Zappa: 6/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 5/10
Overall: 6/10

Website

Myspace

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.

Review: Rachel Taylor Brown - Susan Storm's Ugly Sister and Other Saints and Superheroes

Label: Cutthroat Pop Records

Released: April 29, 2009

On the surface, Susan Storm's Ugly Sister and Other Saints and Superheroes is an album of bold piano pop that at times dabbles in showtune pomp, proggy complexity and Beatlesque near perfection. The songs have the nature of a musical soliloquy as they meander between upbeat and melancholy, never being fully one without the other. On the surface, it's a very good record. But what's beneath the surface is where the album's soul is. Brown draws parallels between superheroes and saints that finds some truths about being a good guy. Whether predominantly bold or subdued, violent or peaceful, each song is a vignette that shows the loneliness of the righteous path, but also delves deeper into what saints (and superheroes, in fiction) have found, a joyful asceticism. Few books on the subject could express as succinctly and easily what this album does about the peculiar happiness of humility and self-denial and Brown pulls it off in a quirky, down-to-earth manner that speaks endearingly to the soul.

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 7/10
Dylan: 9/10
Aretha: 9/10
Overall: 9/10

Website

Myspace

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.

Review: Pictures of Then - Pictures of Then and the Wicked Sea

Label: self-released

Released: August 4, 2009

If Jeff Lynne was more quirky than slick, he may have found himself in the neighborhood of Pictures of Then and the Wicked Sea. From the start, the band makes it clear that they have both bombastic, big guitars as well as carefully crafted hooks up their sleeve, yet they manage to be grounded at the same time. They can be as easily driven by huge chords or swaggering riffs as they can be by acoustic intimacy or 70s countrified pop. Like Lynne, they borrow heavily from the Beatles' sound, but not as much from that band's creative adventurousness. While they do operate in a safer zone, it doesn't make them dull, because they give their influences a unique voice. Throughout, there's enough hint of indie cleverness to bind it all together, no matter which path a song takes, ultimately finding the happy ground between wild and careful and drawing on the best of both worlds.

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 7/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 6/10
Overall: 7/10

Website

Myspace

If you're curious about my rating categories, read the description.